Kikura Gen
Kikura Gen (木倉ゲン Gen Kikura) is a recurring character in Beyblade: Shogun Steel. He owns Pirate Kraken A230JSB. He is an environmentalist, formerly located in Midsummer Beach as to prevent littering and preserve its natural environment. He would accomplish this by disguising himself as a "Sea Monster" and scaring away wrongdoers as a warning, but eventually came to enjoy it and continued his mischief. Despite this, Zyro Kurogane defeated him in a Beybattle and subsequently kicked him off the island. Physical Appearance Kikura has dark brown cocoa skin. He wears goggles and his eyes resemble those of Tetsuya Watarigani. He has curly white hair with parts of red, similar to a jellyfish's. He also wears a dark green suit with brown shoes and a black shirt with white stripes. He also wears sometimes a white, sleeveless vest with parts of red and blue, also similar to a jellyfish's. Personality Like Tetsuya, Kikura has an insane personality, and a back story explaining why his actions and motivations. He has a bad habit of explaining vital information (such as his Bey's weakness) to opponents. This goes unnoticed to him until it is too late where his opponent may have already defeated him. Plot Beyblade: Shogun Steel Terror of the Sea Monster Prior to Zyro Kurogane and his friends' vacation to Midsummer Beach, Kikura posed as a "Sea Monster" by covering himself in seaweed near the beach. When litter was present at each summer's end, Kikura used his disguise to scare the litterers in hopes of teaching them a lesson. This allowed Kikura to preserve and take care of the beach's beauty. However, he soon came to enjoy the yells of the tourists he frightened and decided to partake in it repeatedly for amusement. Eventually, his actions turned into rumors and earned him a local profile. Midsummer Mischief During his next opportunity for scares, Kikura found Maru, Madoka Amano and Ren Kurenai enjoying their time there while he prepared for another misadventure. As Kikura approached the ladies repeating "Don't pollute the sea.", Zyro and his friends, Shinobu Hiryūin, Kite Unabara and Eight Unabara were alarmed. As a burrow beneath the sand was headed towards the girls, Shinobu was quick to launch Ninja Salamander SW145SD and clash in. A Beyblade was knocked back in the air but its owner, the "Sea Monster" retreated it. Kikura took off quickly and returned to the water in an attempt to conceal himself. However, the gang discovered foot flipper footprints on the sand floor - a clue as to the Monster's true identity. When Kikura attempted to scare them the next day, a trap devised by the gang revealed his identity. Upon recouping, he attempted to introduce himself through sophisticated means. When his name got through to them, Zyro called him "Mushroom" which Kikura was offended by. As Zyro and Co. interrogated his presence at the beach, Kikura recounted his mission as an environmentalist. Initially in awe and supportive of his justification, he then revealed how he came to enjoy scaring individuals, drastically changing the gang's opinion. Kite opted to challenge him in a Beybattle for his wrongdoings because of how "unscientific" his role was; Kikura accepted with his Pirate Kraken A230JSB. Kikura directed the gang to a "Rock Stadium" that the beach's water flow created and their battle instantly began. Pirate Kraken A230JSB proved to be a challenge for Kite's Guardian Leviathan 160SB due to the former's Armor 230 Spin Track. As both were Defense-Types, it became impossible to decide a winner when A230 blocked every attack with strong support. While Kikura was expected to announce a Special Move, he dismissed this in favour of a Stamina battle. The showdown took much more time than it needed, boring the spectators who moved on. Eventually, the tide comes in and floods the Rock Stadium, thus ending the battle with no win or loss. When Eight announced his intention of challenging Kikura, Zyro, not wanting another endurance battle, went instead to finish him as quickly as possible. Back to a water-less Rock Stadium, Pirate Kraken A230JSB faced off with Samurai Ifrit W145CF, an Attack-Type. Zyro e strategy was to continually barrage the A230 to defeat Kikura's Bey, but Kikura laughed at it. Kikura also revealed how he came to learn and utilize a technique where virtually Pirate Kraken could not be out-spun by any means; the only path to victory was an attack from above. Glad that Kikura revealed his Beyblade's weakness, Zyro commanded Samurai Ifrit W145CF to take the skies and clash back down on Pirate Kraken, which fell into the water and awarded Zyro a win. Shocked, Kikura dove in to retrieve it - never to return to Midsummer Beach. Refuge in Metal Bey City Upon his departure from the beach, Kikura sought out Metal Bey City as his new destination after scaring two others who attempted to litter. Intending to apply the same actions in the city as the beach and get revenge on Zyro for defeating him, he spoke aloud his "life story" which caught Takanosuke Shishiya's attention. Soon enough, they already battled as Kraken was facing Archer Griffin C145S. Similarly, A230 came to guard his Beyblade when Archer Griffin's attacks did nothing. Takanosuke soon learned to attack from atop rather than beside it - shocking Kikura at how Takanosuke learned by himself. Griffin flew high-up and assaulted from there, once again throwing Kraken into the sea of which Kikura chased after. Neo Battle Bladers and Training Kikura later entered Neo Battle Bladers but was easily defeated and thus, did not make the "Best Eight". Post the tournament's end when Zyro became No. 1 Blader in Japan and WBBA head, Tsubasa Otori, announced a second Beyblade world championship, Kikura took interest. Along with Akuya Onizaki and many other Bladers, Kikura registered in Benkei Hanawa's fierce training program due to his success with Zyro. Manga Kikura only appears for a brief period in Win! Battle Royal!!, entering Neo Battle Bladers. He battles in the A Block against Zyro Kurogane, Ren Kurenai and Yoshio Iwayama. He and Ren are quickly defeated as Yoshio's Bandit Golem DF145BS tears away and destroys Kikura's Pirate Kraken A230JSB - eliminating him from the tournament. Beyblades *Pirate Kraken A230JSB - Kikura's Beyblade; its Spirit never appeared due to Kikura merely battling opponents to sleep-outs with no need for attacks. Gear Kikura utilizes a black Zero-G Launcher Grip with a blue Zero-G Compact Launcher connected to it; using a brick-red ripcord. Beybattles Anime Gallery Appearances Trivia *'K'i'''kura' is a wordplay on "kura'a'''k'en", the Japanese pronunciation for "kraken". **Also, his name reads similar to kraken in Japanese (Ki'''kura Gen). It is possibly for this reason his name retains its Japanese format in the English dub. **Kikura (木倉) also contains the "木" kanji, meaning "tree" which can relate to his environmentalist practices. If it translated completely, it means "wood warehouse". *Kikura is in various ways, Tetsuya Watarigani's Beyblade: Shogun Steel counterpart. **They both feel strongly about a particular animal or location. **Their backstories justify why they act the way they do. **Their Beyblades are based on sea-dwelling animals, Tetsuya's Dark Gasher CH120FS (crab) and Kikura's Pirate Kraken A230JSB (kraken). Category:Male Category:Characters Category:Beyblade: Shogun Steel Category:Beyblade: Shogun Steel Characters Category:Villains